The thriving Hokkaido ski resort of Niseko is considered an anomaly among the many rural communities in Japan facing a slow demise from the shrinking and graying population.
But that was not always the case, says Australian Ross Findlay, a pioneer of the area's outdoor recreation business who first moved to Niseko in the early 1990s when it was still a nondescript, sleepy town whose only attraction was skiing.
Niseko's transformation over the following decades into one of the nation's most sought-after outdoor resorts offers lessons for struggling municipalities on the powers of tourism, Findlay said.